Tigst Assefa returned to Berlin on 27 September 2026 with two victories and a former world record already attached to the city. She ran the first half in 1:04:57 and remained within reach of another world record late into the race. Around 40 kilometres, her stride changed and she began to limp. She still reached the finish in 2:11:04, improving her own Berlin course record by 49 seconds and winning for a third time. From the start on Straße des 17. Juni to the final approach through the Brandenburg Gate, these checkpoints follow a fast race whose closing kilometres changed its outcome.
Eighteen celebrated circuits that once staged Formula 1 World Championship races but no longer appear on the calendar. Some survive as active venues; others are public roads, fragments or memories. Together they show how safety, politics, money and changing host cities reshaped the sport.
From a courtyard pitch in Rosengård to a farewell under the lights of San Siro, these places trace Zlatan Ibrahimović’s rise through Sweden, Europe and Los Angeles. It is a story of reinvention, spectacular goals and an ambition large enough to fill every stadium he entered.
In 1980, twenty-one-year-old Terry Fox set out to run across Canada on an artificial leg, asking Canadians to fund cancer research one dollar at a time. This trace follows selected documented milestones from the Atlantic at St. John’s to the highway outside Thunder Bay, where cancer in his lungs forced him to stop after 143 days and 5,374 kilometres.
From 17 September to 5 November 2006, Dean Karnazes covered a marathon distance in every U.S. state on fifty consecutive days. This compressed trace uses thirteen editorial milestones to make the continental scale legible while naming all fifty states; several weekend runs were live races, while most weekday efforts followed established marathon courses outside their normal event dates.
In July 2006, David Goggins made his Badwater 135 debut on the road from Death Valley’s Badwater Basin to Whitney Portal. He finished fifth overall in 30:18:54 during a race that reached 123°F and later brought rain, hail and flash flooding. This trace follows the official course checkpoints that shaped his breakthrough performance.
27 September 2026
BMW BERLIN-MARATHON start, Straße des 17. Juni, Berlin
Assefa started on Straße des 17. Juni with an unusually strong Berlin record behind her: victory in 2022, followed by a world record of 2:11:53 in 2023. Before the 2026 race she said she wanted a personal best. This was her return to the course where she had first taken the women’s marathon below 2:12.
27 September 2026
BMW BERLIN-MARATHON 10 km marker, Berlin
Assefa passed 10 kilometres in 30:48, already clear of the other women. The opening five kilometres had taken 15:30; her pace had quickened over the next five. Rosemary Wanjiru, the defending champion, reached this checkpoint in 31:53. Assefa had built a lead of more than a minute while most of the race still lay ahead.
52.5285°N · 13.4106°E
27 September 2026
BMW BERLIN-MARATHON halfway vicinity, Berlin
Assefa reached halfway in 1:04:57, still close to the pace needed for a world record. Wanjiru arrived almost three minutes later, in 1:07:42, with four pursuers only three seconds behind her. Assefa’s immediate race was against the clock. This pin marks the approximate halfway vicinity on the organiser’s course, rather than a surveyed timing-mat position.
52.4941°N · 13.3632°E
27 September 2026
BMW BERLIN-MARATHON 30 km marker, Berlin
After 30 kilometres, the world-record attempt remained alive. The organiser reports 1:32:19 at this checkpoint, while World Athletics gives 1:32:15. Both place Assefa inside 2:10 finishing pace. The four-second disagreement prevents a single precise split here, but does not change the picture of a sustained, exceptionally fast solo lead.
52.4810°N · 13.2880°E
27 September 2026
BMW BERLIN-MARATHON 40 km marker, Berlin
World Athletics gives 2:03:00 at 40 kilometres. Soon afterwards, the smooth record attempt changed: Assefa’s stride became uneven and she began visibly limping. Only 2.195 kilometres remained. The organiser subsequently reported a right Achilles tendon tear and successful surgery. The final section became much slower, even though her lead was still substantial.
52.5113°N · 13.3966°E
27 September 2026
Brandenburg Gate, Berlin
The Brandenburg Gate came before the finish, not at it. Assefa still had to continue west onto Straße des 17. Juni after passing through the monument. By now she was visibly struggling, but remained far ahead of her pursuers. The familiar Berlin landmark marked the last approach to the line, rather than the end of the effort.
27 September 2026
BMW BERLIN-MARATHON finish, Straße des 17. Juni, Berlin
Assefa finished in 2:11:04, a personal best and a Berlin course record despite the difficult closing kilometres. Bedatu Hirpa followed in 2:16:53, with Dera Dida two seconds behind. The winning margin was 5:49. This was Assefa’s third Berlin victory, following 2022 and 2023; the world record had escaped her, but the race was still hers.
